Storage disks such as, but not limited to, hard disk drives (HDDs) are divided into a plurality of data sectors. According to certain formats, a data sector includes, but is not limited to, a preamble, a sync mark, user data, and end of sector padding. Acquisition of user data using the preamble provides a first level of precision. The sync mark typically provides a higher level of precision than the preamble. As such, failure to detect a sync mark of a data sector can result in failure to successfully recover user data from the sector (i.e. sector failure).